Greetings from the little town of JiJi!
The past week and a half has been interesting! Well, not really interesting, more along the lines weird! The other day, I woke with pain in my back and by the end of the day, I was at the emergency room! They said that there was nothing wrong, but gave me some medicine to relax the muscles. (Or, at least that is what I think it was for) I spent the next 4 days taking it pretty easy and was able to catch up on some rest and also finish a book. I have been to the chiropractor/ Chinese medicine woman twice now and she has done alot to help my back. The special thing is that through this I have been able to get to know her. Even thought I don't understand alot of what she says, just being with her has been good. She is trying to learn English, so when I am there she likes to practice.
At times, I wonder why I am here. But, at the same time I am so content being here. I know God has me here for a reason, but at the same time, I don't see that what I am doing is having any eternal impact. I look around me and what do I see? I first of all see my team. I see Sarah and Lydia loving on all the little girls, and all of the little girls love them right back. I see Tony, wearing his Taiwan Baseball jersey and everyone staring. (He was followed around at the grocery store, and on the bus he was giving his autograph.) The other day as we were walking down the street, there were kids in a van. When we walked by, the van door opened and the kids started yelling Tony! Tony! Tony! and did not stop till we were out of sight. I see Daniel doing sitting on the floor playing UNO with the kids, or finding some way to make them laugh After looking at those closest to me, I look a little further and I see the kids at my school. The ones that always give me hugs and jump on my back. The 6th graders who after English class teach me how to "properly" pronounce the different counties in Taiwan. Then there is the 1st grader who pulls on my earing, rubs my arm, and sticks his finger in my ear. There are also all of the other 1st graders who want you to sit by them in English class. After class, you can plan on it taking you a few minutes to get out of the classroom. Today, I was just hugged and pulled on and few kids decided to take down my hair and completely mess it up. Rarely can we walk down the street and not hear one of our names. Because I teach here in JiJi, I am always getting to see my kids. After the kids in my schools, there are so many other people. People like Justin, Lisa, Sam, Linda, and the other Lisa. Justin, is a guy from South Africa who is lives here in JiJi and works as a Cram School teacher. Since our schedules are just opposite, we don't get to see him too often, but we try to have dinner occasionally. Lisa, is a girl I met my second week here. She became a Christian through a previous teacher over here. She has been a real blessing. Watching her has shown me what it is like to be a Christian in Taiwan. To see the struggles she has with different beliefs in her family, and trying to find Christians to fellowship with, all of this has not been easy for her! As for Sam and Linda, they are just two of our night market kids. Both Sam and Linda are faithful visitors to our house if we fail to show up at the night market, or they will come to hang out with us until we go to the night market. It is so special to have the kids that we do things with on a regular basis. Last but not least is the other Lisa. Lisa is a college student who is studying teaching. She works at one of my schools and has really been very kind to me. If she senses that something might be wrong, she will make sure and ask me. I was able to have her over about 2 weeks ago and it just thrilled me that I was able to spend time with her. She is one of the people that I really want to get to know while I am here. Can you believe that this is just the start of my list?!?! There are so many people that I have the blessing of coming in contact with every day! When thinking about all of this, there is one thing I can be sure of. I know that God has called me to love these people. Regardless age or language barrier, I have been put here to be a witness to them!
I want to say "Thank You" to those of you who pray for us. Please continue to keep us in your prayers! One thing that I would appreciate is if you would pray for us that we know how to balance our busyness and our time with Chinese friends. That we would not allow our schedule to get in the way of really getting to know the people God has placed around us!
From the Tiny Town of JiJi,
Holly
